Our rivalries...

[chelsea - over 100 years of history]

Also what will you say when in 20 years time and Chelsea have had the same success as United have and they suddenly have the most fans in the country?

I'll go on the Liverpool board and mock them for overtaking their number of league titles!! Oh to dream!!

 

[MUFCOK]

United have had great support but it has no doubt been helped by the success they had in the 50's and 60's and then again in the 90's onwards. Also, the successful northern teams tend to pick up a lot of the Irish fan base as well (see Liverpool and United in particular).

Nothing wrong with this as such, as all clubs that have sustained success will pick up glory hunters along the way. I just can't take southern United/Liverpool fans that seriously to be honest. We could all go and support the best but it does feel sweeter to have had the hard times (80's!!) and gradually got better to the point we are at now. I'd feel the same about a northern Chelsea fan generally.

50's and 60's glory hunters? In the 40's they were still selling out Old Trafford. 40-50,000 people every season before the club was big in the country. I think the many working class communites we have round here is the reason so many people follow United. For the 2 million or so people that live in Greater Manchester there are only 2 teams you can support and football is everywhere you look in Manchester.

The reason United and Liverpool pick up so many Irish fans is because we have both have big Irish communities in our cities. Many people from Ireland have migrated over here. Much more than anywhere else in the country. Plus a lot of our heroes have come from Ireland.

But I agree I cannot stand southern United fans. We have a song about hating cockney's (everyone from London is a cockney to us!!) and when I hear people at Wembley for instance who could well be Londoners singing that, it makes me cringe. It's embarrassing. I agree there are loads of great, traditional clubs they could have chose to support but instead they choose the most successful. They aren't proper fans to me. No matter how much they say they love United, the very reason they support them is because of the glory.

I have no doubt if Chelsea continue to win trophies and even the Champions League you will see an increase in Northern Chelsea fans.

 

[- SW6 -]

Yep

When I was a kid everyone was a Liverpool fan....when I was in college everyone was a Utd fan...Success breeds the fanbase, for possibly shallow reasons, but the fans i know from being a kid who are liverpool fans know as much about the club and love it just as much as any scouser